Who Tried to Kill Trump? Suspects, Attempts, and Breaches

Since July 2024, four people have carried out attacks or armed breaches aimed at Donald Trump. The question of who tried to kill Trump has four names attached to it: Thomas Matthew Crooks, who shot him at a Pennsylvania rally and was killed on the roof he fired from; Ryan Wesley Routh, who lay in wait at a Florida golf course and is now serving life in prison; Austin Tucker Martin, who drove armed into Mar-a-Lago and was shot dead by agents; and Cole Tomas Allen, who opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ dinner and is awaiting trial. A handful of lesser incidents fill in around them.

Thomas Matthew Crooks — Butler, Pennsylvania

Crooks was 20 years old when he climbed onto the roof of a building in the American Glass Research complex, roughly 200 to 300 yards from the stage at the Butler Farm Show fairgrounds, and fired as many as eight rounds from an AR-style rifle on the evening of July 13, 2024. One bullet struck Trump’s right ear. Secret Service counter-snipers killed Crooks on the roof.¹

The attack killed Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old former volunteer fire chief from Sarver, Pennsylvania, who died shielding his family.² Two other spectators were critically wounded: David Dutch, 57, shot in the abdomen, and James Copenhaver, 74, who sustained wounds to his arm, colon, and spine. Both survived with lasting injuries.³

Crooks had graduated with high honors from a community college in 2024. The FBI said the firearm was purchased legally and that Crooks was not previously known to the agency.⁴ His father had noticed behavioral changes in the summer of 2024, including dancing alone late at night and talking to himself, and cited a family history of mental health issues. Crooks had searched online for “major depressive disorder” and “depression crisis.”⁵

In November 2025, the FBI closed its investigation, concluding that Crooks “acted alone and without motive.” Director Kash Patel told reporters, “There is no motive for it, there is no reason for it.” The agency said it would reopen the case only if a credible new lead surfaced.⁶

Ryan Wesley Routh — Trump International Golf Club

Two months after Butler, on September 15, 2024, Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, concealed himself along the fence line near the sixth hole of Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. He had been in position for roughly twelve hours when Secret Service Special Agent Robert Fercano, patrolling one hole ahead of Trump, spotted a rifle barrel protruding from the tree line at about 1:31 p.m. and opened fire. Routh fled, was seen entering a black Nissan Xterra, and was arrested by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office on Interstate 95.⁷

Routh had positioned an SKS-style semiautomatic rifle with a scope and had affixed a camera to the fence, aimed at the green where Trump was expected to play.⁸ Trump was 300 to 500 yards away and was never directly in the line of fire.

Routh had a long criminal record in North Carolina going back to the late 1990s. In 2002, he pleaded guilty to felony possession of a weapon of mass destruction, specifically a fully automatic machine gun, after a three-hour standoff. Later charges included hit-and-run, carrying a concealed weapon, and possession of stolen goods. In 2019, the FBI received a tip that he was a felon in possession of a firearm; the lead was referred to Honolulu police and never verified.⁹

A former Trump supporter who became a vocal critic, Routh self-published a book in 2023 about the war in Ukraine in which he wrote that he “made a terrible mistake” in supporting Trump and told Iran it was “free to assassinate Trump.” He traveled to Ukraine at least six times in 2022 and 2023 trying to recruit foreign fighters. The International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine called his efforts “delusional” and said he had been rejected after failing a psychological screening.¹⁰

A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida indicted Routh on five counts: attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, assault on a federal officer, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number.¹¹ Routh represented himself at trial and was convicted on all five counts on September 23, 2025.¹²

On February 4, 2026, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon sentenced Routh to life in prison, with concurrent terms of 84 months for the firearms-during-a-violent-crime charge, 240 months for assaulting a federal officer, and shorter terms on the remaining counts.¹³ On February 15, 2026, Routh filed a notice of appeal to the Eleventh Circuit.¹⁴

Austin Tucker Martin — Mar-a-Lago

In the early morning hours of February 22, 2026, Austin Tucker Martin, a 21-year-old from Moore County, North Carolina, drove through the north gate of Mar-a-Lago as another vehicle was exiting. He was carrying a shotgun and a gas canister.¹⁵ Two Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy confronted him. According to Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, Martin put down the gas can but raised the shotgun “to a shooting position,” and all three officers fired, killing him at the scene. Trump was at the White House at the time.¹⁶

Martin’s family had reported him missing from North Carolina the previous evening. A cousin described him as quiet and “afraid of guns,” with no known strong political views. Investigators found writings in his vehicle referencing the Epstein files and were exploring the theory that he had been angered by their release. A shotgun box was recovered from the car, and a Secret Service spokesman said investigators believe Martin purchased the weapon while driving south from North Carolina.¹⁷ The FBI investigation remains ongoing.

Cole Tomas Allen — White House Correspondents’ Dinner

On the evening of April 25, 2026, Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, sprinted through a security magnetometer at the Washington Hilton during the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. He fired a Mossberg Maverick 88 shotgun and struck a Secret Service officer in the chest; the officer’s bulletproof vest absorbed the round. Agents returned fire and restrained Allen at the scene. Trump and the First Lady were evacuated.¹⁸

When arrested, Allen was carrying the shotgun, a Rock Island Armory .38-caliber pistol, multiple knives and daggers, and tactical equipment. On May 5, 2026, a federal grand jury in Washington returned a four-count indictment charging him with attempted assassination of the President, assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon, transporting firearms interstate with intent to commit a felony, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.¹⁸

Allen had graduated from the California Institute of Technology in 2017 with a degree in mechanical engineering, interned at NASA, and later earned a master’s in computer science from Cal State Dominguez Hills. He worked as a tutor and was named “Teacher of the Month” by his employer in December 2024.¹⁹

Minutes before the attack, Allen sent a scheduled email to family members signed “Cole ‘coldForce’ ‘Friendly Federal Assassin’ Allen” and apologized for “all the trouble I’ve caused.”²⁰ A separate note stated that he believed it was his “duty” to target Trump administration officials and that he “experienced rage” thinking about the administration’s actions. His sister had previously told law enforcement that Allen had a “tendency to make radical statements.” Federal election records showed a $25 donation to Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign in 2024.¹⁹ Allen appeared in federal court on April 27, 2026, and did not enter a plea.²¹

Other Breaches and Earlier Threats

In September 2025, NYPD Detective Melvin Eng, while on sick leave, infiltrated Trump’s security perimeter at the Ryder Cup tournament at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York. Eng arrived armed and in full tactical gear, falsely claiming to be part of the security detail. He bypassed Secret Service and state police checkpoints and was only discovered when he accidentally dropped his firearm magazine in front of working personnel. He was suspended without pay and faces administrative charges for theft of services. No assault was carried out.²²

Two earlier incidents during the 2016 campaign cycle also made the record: a man rushed the stage at a Dayton, Ohio, rally in March 2016, and a British national attempted to grab a police officer’s gun at a Las Vegas rally in June 2016, later saying he intended to kill Trump.²³

How Crooks Got So Close

Two congressional investigations examined the Butler shooting. A bipartisan 13-member House task force released a 180-page final report in December 2024 calling the attack “preventable” and documenting failures at every stage of planning and execution. The Secret Service failed to secure the AGR building complex that Crooks used; there was no clear chain of command for perimeter security; and local law enforcement had told the Secret Service two days before the rally that they lacked the manpower to lock down the building, with no alternative plan put in place.²⁴²⁵

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee released its own report on July 13, 2025, pointing to a “lack of structured communication” as the single greatest contributor to the failure. Information about a suspicious person with a rangefinder reached a Secret Service security room agent roughly 25 minutes before the shooting, but it was never broadcast over the radio and never reached Trump’s protective detail in time to pull him offstage. One counter-sniper team had an obstructed view of the rooftop. The committee also found that the Secret Service had denied additional resources to Trump’s detail during the campaign and that former Director Kimberly Cheatle gave false testimony to Congress about whether those requests were denied.²⁶²⁷

Cheatle resigned on July 23, 2024, ten days after Butler, writing in her resignation letter, “I take full responsibility for the security lapse.” Ronald Rowe Jr. served as acting director until January 22, 2025, when Trump appointed Sean M. Curran, a 23-year agency veteran who had previously led Trump’s protective detail, as the 28th permanent director.²⁸²⁹ The Senate report noted that despite the magnitude of the failure at Butler, no Secret Service employees were fired. Six personnel received suspensions ranging from 10 to 42 days without pay, and in two cases the originally recommended punishment was reduced.²⁶

1
ABC News. Timeline: How the Trump Assassination Attempt Unfolded at the Rally in Pennsylvania
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BBC News. Victims of the Butler Rally Shooting
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CBS News. Trump Assassination Attempt One Year Later: Victims Recount Shooting
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FBI. Update on the FBI Investigation of the Attempted Assassination of Former President Donald Trump
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The New York Times. Thomas Crooks, Trump Shooter, Butler Rally
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The Hill. FBI Conclusion on Trump Assassination Attempt Probe
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ABC7 News. Timeline: Apparent Assassination Attempt at Trump Golf Course
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U.S. Department of Justice. Ryan Wesley Routh Sentenced to Life in Prison for Attempted Assassination
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ABC News. Suspect in Trump Attempted Assassination: Ryan Wesley Routh
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NPR. Trump Shooting Assassination Attempt Suspect Ryan Wesley Routh
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U.S. Department of Justice. Ryan Wesley Routh Indicted for Attempted Assassination of Former President Trump
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USA Today. Ryan Routh Sentenced for Donald Trump Attempted Assassination
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CNN. Ryan Routh Trump Assassination Attempt Sentencing
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KFOX TV. Ryan Wesley Routh Trump Assassination Attempt Appeal Filed
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Reuters. Secret Service Agents Killed Man Trying to Unlawfully Enter Mar-a-Lago
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PBS NewsHour. Secret Service Says an Armed Man Was Shot and Killed After Entering Mar-a-Lago’s Secure Perimeter
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ABC News. Motive Probed in Fatal Mar-a-Lago Shooting of Armed Man
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U.S. Department of Justice. Indictment Charges Cole Tomas Allen With Attempt to Assassinate President and Assault on Federal Officer
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NBC News. Shooting Suspect at White House Correspondents’ Dinner: Cole Tomas Allen
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U.S. Department of Justice. Suspect in White House Correspondents’ Dinner Shooting Charged With Attempt to Assassinate President
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The New York Times. Trump Assassination Attempt: Cole Allen Charges
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Fox News. NYPD Suspends Detective Who Snuck Into Ryder Cup Pretending to Be on Trump’s Security Detail
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USA Today. Trump Threats and Assassination Attempts
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NBC News. House Task Force Releases Final Report on Trump Assassinations
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VOA News. Secret Service Failures Before Trump Rally Shooting Were Preventable, Senate Panel Finds
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NPR. Trump Assassination Attempt Senate Report
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U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee. Chairman Rand Paul Releases Final Report Detailing Secret Service Failures
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NBC News. Secret Service Director Steps Down After Assassination Attempt
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American Presidency Project. Statement on the Appointment of Sean M. Curran as Director of the United States Secret Service